Separation Anxiety
by donnag76
Summary: Pepper is anxious about her first trip after her son's birth. What will she find when she comes home? Pepperony one-shot. Standard disclaimers apply. Marvel owns them, I don't. Reviews would be great. Nice ones make me want to keep writing. :) Happy reading!


**Separation Anxiety**

"Welcome back, Ma'am."

"Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S." Pepper dropped her briefcase by the door, propped her rolling suitcase beside it, and leaned wearily against the wall. She didn't know if she had ever been happier to hear the A.I.'s British accent. It meant one thing…she was home. Over the years, she'd made countless business trips, many of them alone, but those hadn't involved leaving behind her infant son.

The tears on the tarmac had been hers. A.J. sat complacently in his father's arms, oblivious to the stress going on around him. Tony insisted they would be fine and she should go take care of business. The sooner she left, the sooner she would be home. The last thing she saw as the jet taxied down the runway was Tony making the little hand wave goodbye. That's when the crying began in earnest. Video chats and phone calls helped, but it wasn't the same. Pepper almost squealed in delight when she realized her business was completed. She was on-board the jet and headed back to California before the ink was dry on the last set of documents, ignoring the late hour. It was now early morning, she was bone-tired, and hadn't eaten since lunch, but, Pepper didn't care. She was home.

She slipped the shoes from her aching feet and unbuttoned her jacket as she walked up the staircase to the second floor. The house was dark and quiet, not a common occurrence when you live with a baby and Tony Stark. Pepper walked into the master bedroom intent on dropping off her heels before going to check in on her son. What she saw when she got there made her change her mind. A.J. lay on his back in the middle of their king-size bed, his head resting on the pillow in the crook of his father's left arm. Tony was on his side, curled protectively around the little boy, his right arm across A.J.'s middle. Both were sound asleep.

Pepper could only stand and stare. She missed her guys more than she thought possible. "Her guys." For some reason, referring to them as "her guys" made her smile. The past four days felt like an eternity being away from them. Pepper decided that was long enough. She changed from her suit into shorts and a t-shirt. As quietly as possible, she made her way to the bed. Carefully, she extracted A.J. from his father's embrace and took his place.

"When did you get so heavy?" Tony mumbled sleepily, eyes still closed.

"Since I got knocked up by Iron Man," Pepper replied.

Tony's eyes came open. Instead of seeing his son's profile, he saw the top of his wife's head. "Hey," he said in a hushed tone.

"Hey."

"Didn't think you were coming home until tomorrow."

"I finished early and just couldn't stay away any longer."

"Glad you couldn't. I would have come and gotten you, though. You didn't have to drive in alone."

"I know." Pepper watched A.J. sleep. "What happened to 'Grown-up beds are for grown-ups. Cribs are for babies'?"

Tony rose up enough to look over her shoulder. "Oh, that. Well, it was late when I finished working. By the time I got A.J. fed and changed and I gave him his bath..." Pepper turned to look her husband in the face, her disbelief evident. "Fine. He's warm and cuddly and he smells good."

"I think it's sweet."

"You know, if he wasn't in here, I could give you a proper welcome home."

"I know, but I like it just the way it is."

"Me, too," he confessed. Tony dropped a kiss on her shoulder and lay down. "It feels like home now."

"It feels good to _be_ home." Pepper stroked the child's cheek. "Has he been sleeping in here since I've been gone?"

"Yeah. I was afraid he would miss you as much as I did and cry uncontrollably the entire time."

"Miss me?"

"Yep."

"But, he acted so unaffected at the plane."

"Are you kidding? A.J.'s your number two fan."

"Number one being..."

"Me, of course."

"Of course."

"You should have seen the poor little guy staring at the screen after the call was over, trying to figure out where you went."

"I was doing the same thing on my end, except I _knew_ where the both of you were. It didn't make things any easier."

"I wonder which one of us heard more whining this week?"

"I did...hands down." Pepper felt the chuckle rumble in Tony's chest. A.J. stirred, but didn't awake. "Seems we are disturbing the Vice President of my fan club."

"Hey, you wake him up, you stay up with him until he goes back to sleep."

"No thank you," Pepper yawned. "Not tonight."

Tony snuggled closer to his wife, wrapping his arm more tightly around her waist. Pepper obliged by relaxing against him. "See you in the morning."

"I'll be here."

"Exactly where we want you."

Pepper placed one hand atop Tony's. With the other, she reached and took hold of their son's tiny fist. Their little family had survived their first extended time apart. There would be more, of this she was certain. However, Pepper was willing to go through all the separation anxiety again if each homecoming was as sweet as this one.

**Author's note: This was a birthday gift for my BFF. I got the idea the other night when I was getting ready for bed and got right out of bed and started writing. I hope you like it. I just couldn't get away from the idea of what Pepper would find coming in from a business trip. Personally, I think it would be sweet, especially if Tony had been all stern about not allowing A.J. to sleep with them but in his own bed. Just picture the sleeping scene from IM3, only without Pepper and A.J. lying on the pillow Tony's holding. Anyway, please let me know what you think. Reviews are appreciated, especially nice ones. :) Thanks for all the positive support so far. Happy birthday to my BFF and PEPPERONY FOREVER!**


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